ROCKFORD — It’s been seven years since voters approved a sales tax hike that has provided millions of additional dollars to fix the city’s crumbling streets.

The decision was transformational. The city ditched its old habit of borrowing money every year to fix roads and repaying the debt, plus interest, with an annual voter-approved property tax increase.

Today, it’s a different story. The sales tax generates $15 million a year, nearly double what the old method provided, and the city has been successful at leveraging that money with millions more from the state and federal governments.

This year, the city is rebuilding South Main and West State streets as part of a $28 million overhaul of arterial and collector streets. Local sales tax dollars account for $7.5 million of the total.

“If we didn’t have the sales tax, we would have done nothing in terms of significant road projects since the Great Recession,” Public Works Director Tim Hanson said. “It’s been huge in terms of what we can now leverage in state and federal dollars. We’ve resurfaced close to 115 miles of roadway in our city since 2007.”

Experts say careful management of the money for road improvements and prioritizing the region’s infrastructure needs will be key because state and federal money for infrastructure projects is anything but certain. Illinois’ six-year-capital plan expires in a year and Congress is debating how to sustain the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for highway, bridge and mass transit projects. The trust fund will require an additional $172 billion over the next decade to keep pace with expected needs for highway infrastructure, but its value is expected to further erode as new vehicle fuel-efficiency standards take effect over the next decade.

Falling apart

Illinois has substantial infrastructure needs. Forty-two percent of our major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and driving on roads in need of repair costs Illinois motorists $3.7 billion a year, or $441 a motorist, in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs, according to a report released this year by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Rockford is a step ahead of many cities because it has a dedicated funding stream to address its infrastructure needs, said Douglas House, president of the Illinois Chapter of the American Public Works Association and general services manager for the city of Moline.

“Every city has to adopt best-management practices that suit their own personality and that work best for their region,” he said. “One of the things you’re seeing a lot of communities do today to stretch their dollars is do more crack sealing and patching roads with more regularity instead of waiting until you have pavement failure and need to rebuild the street at a much greater cost.”

Page 2 of 4 - Cities are also working to improve traffic flow and stretch transportation cash by using tools like roundabout intersections, which Rockford put in at North Main and Auburn streets.

“Roundabouts are becoming quite popular because they are much more sustainable and economical to build and maintain,” House said. “Unlike a standard intersection, a roundabout doesn’t require a huge investment in traffic signals or the annual cost to maintain those signals. And they are quite efficient at moving traffic.”

Long, short terms

Better forecasting of transportation needs will be key to making the most of the Rockford area’s infrastructure money.

“When you’re making investment decisions about infrastructure you can’t simply consider the physical state of a road or bridge,” said Steve Ernst, director of Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which plans and coordinates decisions regarding the region’s transportation systems. “You have to calculate the return on investment in terms of economic benefits of the project.

“The question now becomes, what are the economic benefits of making investments in roads? Where can we generate the most return on our investments? Answering those questions will help us prioritize which projects to pursue first.”

To that end, RMAP is using a state grant to help buy computer software that, in the coming years, will help it estimate the economic benefits of proposed road projects in terms of job creation, job retention and any increase in local tax revenue from nearby development, Ernst said.

Planning aside, the region’s political leaders must speak with one voice to secure state and federal transportation money, Steve Nailor said. The retired Commonwealth Edison representative chairs the Rockford-Winnebago County Better Roads Association, a coalition of public and private partners formed in the late 1990s to lobby for the region’s share state capital money for infrastructure.

What’s next

Historically, Rockford fared poorly on state road spending, which has favored areas with more interstate highway. But Nailor credits the Better Roads Association with helping Winnebago County nab $234 million in 2009 for road projects as part of the state’s last $31 billion, multiyear capital plan. Road funding allocated under that plan is due to run out by the end of the year, which prompted legislators to approve a slimmed-down $1 billion capital plan in July.

It’s unclear when Illinois will adopt a larger, multiyear capital plan to address major roadwork. Nailor said the Better Roads Association will be ready. Money to rebuild the Jefferson Street bridge and the Whitman Street interchange in Rockford are part of $166 million worth of projects the group is considering.

“We know that state and federal dollars will be limited moving forward,” he said. “That’s why we need alignment. The city and the county must continue to speak with one voice about our most important road projects.”

Multimillion dollar road projects are underway this summer in just about every part of Rockford.

State roads inside city boundaries account for some of the biggest infrastructure expenses. Here’s a look at some of the biggest repairs and those done in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Transportation.

South Main Street: A $19 million reconstruction and widening of the road from Cedar Street to Clifton Avenue began in April. The state is also in the midst of a $13.5 million rebuild of South Main from the bypass to Harrison Avenue.

North Main Street: The state is putting the finishing touches on a $21 million project to widen and rebuild North Main from Latham to Elmwood roads.

East State Street: The state began a $2.3 million project in June to resurface three miles of East State from Mid-America Drive to Fairview Avenue. The city will mill and resurface 15 roads that connect drivers to businesses along East State in conjunction with the project.

West State Street: The state built a wider West State from Kent Creek to Sunset Avenue in 2013 and, in conjunction with the city, has spent this season finishing landscaping, lighting and pathways along the road. When the work is complete, the state will move on to a $10.3 million project to widen West State from Sunset to Day Avenue.

U.S. 20: The state is spending $27 million to rebuild two bridges that span the Rock River.

Falcon Road: The city has a $5 million plan to rebuild roads near Chicago Rockford International Airport starting this fall. It includes rebuilding Falcon from Airport Drive to New Milford School Road and Airport Drive from 11th Street to Kishwaukee Road.

Auburn Street: The city budgeted $850,000 this year to resurface Auburn from Pauline Avenue to the creek crossing, not including the Kilburn Avenue intersection, and from Irving to North Central avenues.

Broadway: An $850,000 resurfacing project on Broadway from 11th to Kishwaukee streets gives drivers a continuous smooth stretch from 20th Street to Kishwaukee. The city repaired the stretch from 20th to 11th streets two years ago.

— Kevin Haas

Repairs in the ‘hood

Since voters approved a 1 percent sales tax referendum to pay for road repairs in 2007, the city has resurfaced or reconstructed more than 80 miles through its neighborhood road repair program.

Add in arterial and commercial streets and, by the end of this construction season, the city will have improved more than 115 miles of city roads using sales tax money.